Apollo 17 astronaut throwing an object on the Moon. Footage of US astronaut and mission commander Eugene Cernan throwing an item of packaging on the surface of the Moon. He is exploring the Taurus-Littrow region as part of NASA's Apollo 17 mission. The gravity on the Moon is a sixth of that on Earth, causing objects to take longer to return to the surface when thrown. Cernan landed on the Moon on 11 December 1972, with geologist Dr Harrison Schmitt. They spent 75 hours on the surface. Ron Evans remained in orbit in the command module. Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission, and Schmitt and Cernan are the last people to have walked on the Moon. A total of 12 US astronauts walked on the Moon during the eleven manned Apollo missions, from 1968-1972. |